New tricks

I decided not to title my blog entries by day this time around. Two reasons: 1.) I didn't want to know how long I've been here. :-) 2.) It won't be so obvious if I miss a day or two here or there. But now, I'll just have to come up with creative titles for my posts. Oh well!

I thought I'd better add this up here in case you don't read down past the cute photos and videos. Tomorrow, we start the paperwork process to get everything submitted to the judge to eventually get a court date. Please pray for favor with the social worker and court officials, (we already met the director - seems like a nice guy), and smoothness for the details tomorrow. Of course, please pray for a QUICK court date too. Thanks! 

So Jonathan showed us some new tricks today. I laid him on the mat so I could try an outfit on him. (The 12 mo one piece outfit barely fit him over his other clothes! Good to know. I think the 12 mo 2 piece outfits I brought will be fine.) Anyway, he flipped over onto his tummy and was pushing up and bouncing like he was ready to go. :-) 

He also "talked" to us for the first time. So fun to hear his little voice!

Gettin' some lovin' from Mama

Total baby toes cuteness!
It's fun to see his toes this early in the process. I never saw Elijah's feet until Gotcha day due to him always wearing tights.

Notice the guy in the background?
Evidently, he takes his breaks in the playroom. So we had company the last half of our visit.

Bonding with Daddy!

A nice day!

We had a very nice day today. Our visiting hours are from 10:30-11:30 and about 2:30-4pm. Babies obviously sleep more than 3 yr olds, so a bit less time than what we had with Elijah.

Our morning visit w/ Jonathan went well and the nannies were glad to see the diapers we brought in. We left a bit early to get back to the apt before Elijah's birth parents came. Our time with them was such a complete blessing. His mother, Tatiana, brought lots of gifts for all of our kids. So sweet of her. The most precious gifts though are a hand-knit (by her) sweater for Elijah's birthday in September, and a photo album with all of Elijah's aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins. Priceless... The photo that made me cry was a picture of him right after he was born...it was probably not long after that they realized something was "different" about him and thus their world came crashing down. She also gave me the card that was in his bassinet at the hospital. I can't even begin to tell you what a special treasure these things are to me, and hopefully will be to him too someday. I'm sitting here crying just thinking about it.  (For those of you that weren't reading back in Dec, Elijah's parents love him very much and had visited him on a consistent basis while in the orphanage. They just couldn't keep him for financial reasons as she has to work and there is NO place for a child w/ Ds to go in this country. This wasn't just a choice for a better lifestyle for them financially. It is just very different here w/  very low salaries and high prices. We have been in contact with them since we left EE in Dec and met them 2x over there. We are truly blessed to have them in our lives.)

I gave her an album of photos of our family and Elijah, as well as a very special locket that says "mother" on the front and has 2 of Elijah's photos inside. A huge thank you to "Auntie Debbie" for getting that for her back in December. I'm glad I procrastinated mailing it to her hung on to it so I could give it to her in person. She was very, very, very touched by it. I know she will treasure it always.

They only stayed for about an hour and a half. It's a long trip for them for such a short time, but it was worth it. I'm glad they made the trip. After lunch, we went to the market, got an umbrella and headed to the orphanage. Yay! After that, we walked and walked and walked to find a great pizza place called Celentano's. It's a chain restaurant and we went there in the capital city and also in Elijah's city. We love it! 2 drinks and a yummy pizza for $5! Can't beat that! Pat brought along his running watch with a GPS in it. He told me we walked a total of 7 miles today! No wonder I could hardly make it up the stairs tonight! Good exercise though and makes up for that Milka chocolate I seem to be eating a lot of...shhh...don't tell my kids, ok?

Here you go! Photos at last. Sorry for the rambling first!

I LOVE how he is seeking out eye contact. He got a little uncomfortable with Daddy after a while though. It's just he's not used to men. Elijah was the same way.

Total cuteness!!! :-)

Trying on hats for the way home...this one might work.
(You can see how red his eye is. I hope we can get some medicine on Tues for him.)

Mom, this one might have to wait until next summer. :-)

No, he's not napping. He's just saying, "Get out of my face with the camera, Mom!" 

This was as close to a smile as we got today. I'm just lovin' his hair! The nanny even  commented today about how it is similar in color to Daddy's. :-)

More about Jonathan and his heart

I figured I'd better get this done tonight before we get busy with tomorrow's activities. I'm excited to see Elijah's birth parents who are coming to see us tomorrow. :-)

Ok, Jonathan's heart. The doctor said today that he has an open oval window, or a PFO I believe, a hole in his heart. This is one of the heart defects he was listed with and none of the doctors here seemed to be too worried about it. From what I gathered it can cause problems if it is large, but most often closes on his own. Ok, good. She said today that they were going to schedule surgery for him in May, but the cardiologist here wanted him to gain more weight first. I thought that was funny since he is so heavy already, but I'm glad they didn't do it. In June, just a couple weeks ago, he was back to the cardiologist and he said he should come back in 6 months for a check-up. YAY!!! It was the end of April that I asked you all to start praying for his heart. I believe those prayers are being answered! Praise the name of Jesus!!!!

In other health issues besides his current eye infection, he's never been sick enough to be sent to the hospital, so that's pretty healthy. I think that's about it for health issues. He has a rash on the back on the back of his neck/back but it just looks like prickly heat to me.

His picture definitely does him justice in the weight department! :-) He is one chunky lil' monkey! We didn't get a current weight on him, but we think he is heavier than our petite 20 mo old Rachel who is just over 20#. I have some 12 mo clothes here that I'll have to bring in next week to try on him. It takes lots of will power to not squeeze his cheeks and thighs!  Pat's aunts are going to love him. :-)

Developmentally, of course they told us he is delayed. No surprise there. Physically, he is not sitting up yet on his own, and even sometimes has a floppy head. He is reaching out to grab toys and puts them in his mouth to chew on them, so that was good to see. Lots of teeth to come in yet, as he only has the two bottom ones. I don't think that is totally unusual for kids with Ds though. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I'm sure non-ideal nutrition is a part of that too.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear that he was eating baby food from a spoon though, along with a bottle too I'm sure. The doc said he does not really like to eat, but needs "encouragement" to do so. So, we'll see how that all works out. We will definitely ask to see what he is eating/drinking before we leave with him.

I think that's about it. He's had no visitors since he's come to the orphanage. :-( I highly doubt we'll be meeting his birth family, but that's ok. I'm thrilled we are able to give Elijah that gift to be in contact with his bio parents.

Thanks again for your continued prayers. Please pray for everything to go smoothly on Tuesday with the paperchasing. Thanks!!!!

SURPRISE!!! Guess who we met today?!?

We met Jonathan of course!!! Without first explaining how we got here and met him on a Saturday, I know all you really want to see is photos!  Here you go! :-)

Total cuteness or what?!? :-) I LOVE THAT GIGGLE!!! The doctor told us that he is very attentive and smiles easily. We was little unsure about us at first, but as you can see in the video he is warming up to us a bit. He's really good at looking at us in the eye and seeking the eye contact. That's great! He's absolutely beautiful and we love him so much!!!

He has an eye infection too. :-(  You can see his right is pretty red, so hopefully they will give us the name of something to get for it at the "apteka" (pharmacy) soon.

Ok, if you want to hear details about our crazy day yesterday, and how he is doing medically, keep reading. Otherwise, I give you full permission to stop now. LOL

So, yesterday morning, Vanya, our most awesome facilitator/translator, went early to try and get us  train tickets to region Friday night. See, it's a 3-day weekend (Monday is yet another holiday), so everyone is leaving the capital city and the train was booked weeks ago. Sometimes, a person can pay the conductor to sleep in his/her quarters on the train. They make a little extra money and helps out people, like us, to get where we want to go. He found only one car left that the conductor hadn't "sold" her quarters.  It was in 3rd class, but her quarters lock, so it wasn't a big deal. Vanya or Kostya, our facilitator we had worked with to our paperwork, had called the orphanage to see if anyone would be there so we could meet Jonathan on Saturday. It was a go!

We left the apt about 10:30, met Vanya at the SDA, had lunch at Celentano's (yum yum!), did some shopping for gifts, some sightseeing, relaxing at the park overlooking the river, eating some ice cream and back to the SDA to pick up our referral. The referral is the official paperwork we need from the SDA to give us permission to visit Jonathan. The referrals are supposed to be ready between 3-4pm on Fridays. (4-5pm on other days.) We got there about 2:45pm, had a nice LONG chat with Rochelle and Jason, and a couple of other US families adopting various aged children (one was from Roberts, WI - just a few miles from where I grew up!). FINALLY at about 5:15pm, the paperwork was ready!  Our train leaves at about 7pm...we booked it back to the apt, grabbed a few groceries, threw our stuff in our bags and headed out to the train station. Because the traffic was terrible on a Friday, we took the metro (subway) instead. We were stuck in traffic last time trying to get to the train station, so I was glad to not go through that again. Navigating the metro with suitcases on a very busy Friday night was interesting as well, but we got there on time!  A little sweaty and very tired, but we made it. Our compartment was 1/2 of a 2nd class compartment, but it was fine. We had the window open, and it was very comfortable. Vanya slept in 3rd class and just put his luggage in by us. Neither Pat nor I slept all that well, but maybe by the time I get back to the capital city w/ Jonathan, I'll be able to sleep on the train. :-) It's an acquired skill to say the least.


Whew...still with me?  Good. Vanya had called from the train to find available apts and secured one that was available in the morning for us to look at. (We would have stayed in a hotel for a couple of days otherwise until we found one.) When we got off the train at about 7:30am, we took a cab to the apt and checked it out. It is very nice, recently updated w/ a washer and hot water. Internet was installed mid-afternoon. Plus, it's only $20/night. That rocks! Only downside is it's up 5 flights of stairs, but it will do me good. I'll be in great shape by the time we get home! :-)

After we took much needed showers, we walked to the orphanage. It's about a mile walk one-way, so not bad. We did scout out some "marshuka" (bus) numbers to take if it's raining or if my legs just need a rest. The doctor that was in today was very nice and is the doctor that takes care of Jonathan. I think I'll save all of that for the next post so it doesn't get buried here. We learned of his social history as well. The director kindly came in on his day off to meet us, which was very nice. He seems very friendly. Debbie, he really enjoyed the photos of your boys! :-) He was glad that we already have a child with Ds so we know how to care for Jonathan. He's a favorite there and they wanted him to go to a good home.

We visited with him 2x today. Both times for only about 15 minutes. We'll be able to spend more time tomorrow I hope. We will also visit on Monday.  On Tuesday, we start the paperwork to get our petition submitted to court. It's a bummer we "lost" 3 days w/ the weekend and holiday towards our court day, but we are so thankful to Vanya for working so hard to get us in to meet Jonathan. It would have been a long weekend here if we were not able to visit him.

Ok, I'll put his medical stuff, his current condition, and more about our visit in the next post. This is plenty long enough for now.

Thank you again for your continued prayers!  We can certainly feel them as everything is going so smoothly.  Please continue to pray for our kids back home and their caregivers. Everyone seems to be doing fine, so that is a blessing. Love to  you all!

It is all coming back to me...

First, we and all of our luggage are here safe and sound!!! (You already knew that though..I started this yesterday. :-)) Praise the Lord!  Our flights were long of course, but uneventful, which is the best kind.  We managed some sleep, so that was good. But, we decided when we start recognizing the waiters/waitresses at Chili’s in O’Hare, we’ve been traveling too much. J  This is Pat’s 3^rd trip to this country in a year, plus his trip to Argentina.  Anyway, we are excited to be here!!!

Ok, it is all coming back to me…the crazy driving (although our driver from the airport was very good), ALL of the trees painted half way up with white paint, the Cyrillic alphabet, cars parking on the sidewalks, the yummy borsch (soup), the huge serving spoons to eat the borsch, all of the smoking (although the airport was not bad, Sarah - it's all been remodeled too)…yep, I remember all of that with fondness.  J Hopefully the culture shock will be a little less this time.  It is so fun to be back in the capital city, especially since it’s not winter. The weather today is beautiful – breezy and warm, but not blazing hot.

Right now, it’s Thursday afternoon. After our SDA appointment this morning, we came back to the apartment, hung out a bit and then we went out for lunch. After that we Vanya, our facilitator/translator showed us the Golden Gate. Nope, not the bridge in San Fran. J  It’s the restored remains of the wall that once surrounded this city in the 10^th century. Pretty cool.

Our apartment is right up the road from the main square and is pretty centrally located. We were able to walk to our SDA appt this morning, so it was nice to save some cash and enjoy the weather.  Later for dinner, we hope to meet up with some other families here adopting.  We met two wonderful families this morning at the SDA – the Cannons and the Johnsons.  Very nice people!  J  We’ll probably walk back up towards the SDA at some point and do some shopping for gifts. 

Pat, me, Elisha, Mike, and Grace
We had a wonderful time last night getting to know the Silvas!

A few of my favorite things but not together!
The juice in the white box is the best I've ever had, Milka chocolate of course, and "crab" potato chips (different but yummy)
Some cyrillic alphabet fun = K = c, p = r, a= a, 6 = b, so the label on the bag says "crab". Easy, huh?  Well, this one is easy. Wish they all were...

Street scene

I'm sure this has a name. Anyone? It's  right down by the main square. 

At the main square too. Name anyone? I can't  remember at the time.

The Golden Gate

Statue by the SDA. If I remember right, this commerates a  movie that was made here.

Pat, me, and Vanya by the SDA building

St. Andrew's Church by the SDA

Another street scene

SDA Appointment Went Well!

Just a quick note to say that our SDA appt went well. No surprises. :-)  Thank you Lord! We accepted Jonathan's referral, will pick up the referral paperwork tomorrow afternoon, travel to his city Sat night, and meet him on Monday!!!  He was born right in the same city as the orphanage, so that will make getting his birth certificate after the 10-day wait go much quicker. Yay!

We are enjoying our time here in the capital city. It is SOOO much warmer than last time we were here, thus much more beautiful too.  We're at an internet cafe right now while we get copies made of our dossier for the SDA. I'll try to get on later and post some pictures. We spent the evening with the Silvas last night. What a wonderful family for "my" Noah. :-) They are still on the train and should be meeting him within a few hours!

More later! Thanks so much for your prayers. They are so appreciated. God is GOOD!

They made it!

Hi all!

Sarah here, just got an email from my dad. He says that they made and have all their luggage, so things are good.  He sent it 15 minutes ago, and says they are sitting in their apartment getting ready to go out to eat (I think with Silva's, (Noah's family) as that was the plan before they left). He said that they also met the Silva's. Beyond that and telling me to call a few people and blog, he didn't say much.

For those of you who don't know or didn't read mom's moms other posts where she explained it - the game plan is. Right now they are in the capital city. Tomorrow they have their SDA (State Department of Adoptions) appt. On Friday, they pick up their referral from the SDA office, that they need to go meet Jonathan. On Saturday or Sunday night (I'm not sure which), the take the 12 hours train down to Jonathan's city (or a city close to it). And Lord willing, on Monday they meet our boy! :D

Sarah

This is it!

This is our last day at home!!!  I'll be running around all day like a chicken with it's head...well, you know. :-)  My next post will be from the capital city in Jonathan's country!  So exciting, although this really has NOT sunk in yet.  I guess it will when everything is all in Russian. LOL

Please pray for us!  I hope to get a tab posted at the top for prayer requests - probably when I get over there.  But in the meantime, here's a quick random list of prayer requests w/ poor formatting and grammar...sorry, no time to make it look pretty.

- that each of children would have the peace that surpasses all understanding as their parents are thousands miles away - esp for Elijah and Rachel who won't understand where Mama and Dada have gone and that they will all settle in ok.
- strength and endurance for each of the caregivers
- protection from injury and illness for each of the kids, the caregivers, and Pat and I
- smooth, uneventful travels
- SDA appt that glorifies the Lord and that we may pick up our referral that same day - rarely happens, but we can pray. It would save us a few days before court if we can start the paperwork before the weekend, plus meet Jonathan a few days earlier!
- that Pat and I would get reconnected, not succumb to the stress, and enjoy the time together as a 3rd honeymoom (2nd one was in EE in Dec. :-))
- Please pray I get done today what I need to get done.  And the kids have speeches at 4H tonight and I'm supposed to bring snack - won't be homemade, I'll tell you that. Ya, never thought we'd be leaving the next day for EE when we signed up back in Oct/Nov. HA!  In fact, we purposely signed up later in the year so we could make sure Elijah was home b/c Anna wants to do her speech about him. Funny, huh?  Oh me of little faith!

Ok, TONS to do...like get Elijah dressed. Love Baby Signing Times. He may be watching a lot of that today...

Thanks to everyone for your love and support and most importantly, your prayers!!! Love to you all!

Yep, that would be Elijah...

(from big sister Sarah)

Yep, that would be Elijah who put the stuffed zebra on the changing table and got out a diaper...

The result (with a little help from Mama) - a diapered zebra!

Yep, that would be Elijah who was moving as fast as lighting, so he is to blame for the quality of the pictures, not me.. Sorry!

And yep, the would be Elijah who just trashed the World puzzle again... sigh... Please don't forget to check out our Puzzle Fundraiser, so it will be worth it when I put it back together again! :)

Message from Elijah and Jonathan

We don't have an extra chromosome - you're missing one!

My face may be different but my feelings the same.
I laugh and I cry and take pride in my gains.
I was sent here among you to teach and to love
as God in the heavens looks down from above.
To Him I'm no different, His love knows no bounds
It's those here among you in cities and towns
that judge me by standards that man has imparted,
But this family I've chosen will help me get started.
For I'm one of the children so special and few
that came here to learn the same lesson as you.
That love is acceptance, it must come from the heart;
we all have the same purpose, though not the same start.
The Lord gave me life to live and embrace,
and I'll do it as you do but at my own pace.

(Down Syndrome Creed)